Hondo Garage's New Thing

I would also like to see what the gray looks like, I have a MGM tacoma and I am not sure what color I want to go with yet.

 

Just to point out, if you watch the walk though, Graeme says that camper weighs ~250#.

If you are targeting the “200#”, that is with cloth side panels. Due to the high volume of people wanting Aluminum side panels, I’m not sure they have really developed the cloth panels yet... @gmacmt , is that an accurate statement?

 

250# isnt bad, i want aluminum panels for sure. Ill also add this truck is my DD and i dont have a garage so it will stay on the truck year round. 1 concern was impact to mpg but it was reported to be minimal so im good with that.

 

I wonder about MPG loss too. I'd ask @inv3ctiv3 if he noticed a difference w/ and w/out GFC, but not sure he has accumulated enough miles yet to give estimation. That said, MPG is not going to deter me from getting the GFC.

I'm in same boat with regards to garage (not tall enough). I've been looking for additional excuses to get an 8ft door....

 

Agree completely!

 

Is anyone in Austin or central Texas planning on getting one of these?

If so, I want to come see it!

 

Yes indeed, thanks! We still plan to offer a camper with cloth cover like a softopper in the future, but initial market feedback really dictated the aluminum panels. Fixed panels were the original base model, but then we decided to add in the operable sides and keep the price the same.

We have two campers that will be finished this week, and five that will get started next. Working super long hours, and plan to continue to do so to get production rolling. Like was previously mentioned in the thread, we'd rather make sure these are done right rather than early, and I think you guys are going to be really stoked on the outcome. Feel free to reach out directly with questions.

graeme@gfcengineering.com
(406) 581-7463

Going to work on a walkaround video of the shop soon too. Getting tooled up for production has been an incredible amount of effort, and the result is really an impressive operation.

 

I should add, one of the campers will be silver, and one will be black. The silver unit will have front and rear windows.

 

Something like the GFC can’t help but affect mpg. How much depends on too many variables. It may not be noticeable with all the other variations and variables in mpg.

Nice! Looking forward to the windows.

 

I'd say that it depends? Airflow is turbulent by the time that the air gets to the windshield esp after getting over the huge grille height. The skewp on my Sport certainly doesn't help anything. The nose of the GFC might not really affect things if the flow has already separated. Also, the end of the cab messes up flow without a topper anyway. The difference between that and the GFC might be insignificant?

I kind of play that experiment on my motorcycle. How high do I have to get my helmet above the windscreen to get into clean air. It seems to be about a solid foot over the top of the screen.

MPGs might be affected if only driving up hills, but there is always the other side going down. I get better MPGs driving to work and worse ones driving home. Haha!

Just some thoughts.

 

they already reported when they delivered Jim's in Utah that it was a 1 mpg difference on their 3rd gen.


also, you're in the wrong damn hobby to be giving a crap about mpg. lol

 

I think my mpg will go up with a GFC...... rtt is wayyyy up high.

 

I agree, I was just commenting on the mpg discussion.

 

Slightly disagree. When fuel range becomes a limiting factor it can be something worth caring about. That said, if you are already on the "limit of range" issue, you may have other things you should be considering than the affect the GFC could have.

I'm wondering the same thing. With less frontal area and a more streamlined profile I'd expect no worse than current RTT setup. Give it a few weeks and there could be more on the road for evaluations

 

Nope, wasn't expecting suede, was just expecting the fabric to be taut and not look stretched out from the get go. Sounds like this was just pre-prod so fair enough.

 

That vid is rad. Definitely more abuse than I'll put on the GFC, pretty sure the lady/kid/dog wouldn't want me driving like that

 

no doubt.

But that just comes down to being smart about you're planning and prep. don't overload your truck and you'll see bigger gains than anything the GFC will affect. Its already one of the lightest options out there for camping.

Plus, 5 gal jerry cans are cheap and not hard to fit an extra one or two in the bed plus if you have a swing out you likely have one or two already.

You'll be hard pressed to get anywhere in the US where you can't get gas and be out of range on one or two spare jerry cans.

Over seas or out of country..different story. But same idea. Grab a few more jerry cans.


Im willing to bet that as much as everyone who will buy one of these and use it and will want to do big trips...only a handful will use it on trips up to a week long. Even smaller group for trips over a week long. And a microscopic amount will go on long out of country trips.

A huge majority will use theirs on the weekend religiously..and those folks will be hard pressed to out run their stock tank and a jerry can or two.

I just find that mpg talk is hilarious especially when concerned a camper topper when almost everyone puts on bigger tires in a heart beat which makes a bigger impact OR a front bumper which makes a huge impact in aerodynamics and kills mpgs. But no one bats an eye at that.

 

time to build some cardboard air dams for highway testing

 

I completely disagree with the thinking that you basically have to give up on gas mileage to get into this stuff.
My truck is my DD, and my commute is 80 miles. Every MPG I can hold onto means more money saved for trips and stuff.
Having said that, you obviously have to be willing to make some compromises depending on what you want out of your truck.

But for example, I'm still on the OEM tires. I'm extremely tempted to go up to a 285 that has a better track record, but these OEMs have taken me over Imogene Pass and plenty of other places I wouldn't have expected no problem.
Now Moab Rim isn't going to happen on these, but maybe I'm ok with that if it means an extra 2-3 MPG all the time. I haven't decided yet...

Lots of different build philosophies and use cases, is all I'm saying.

 

Yeah, of course. When it comes to people throwing on a 6" lift, 35's, RTT above the roofline, and 800 lbs of unused gear, and then complaining about gas mileage - what did you expect?!? Haha